We Are At War

Spinning and twirling around and around! That all Toushiro was aware of. He tried to get himself straight, but couldn't. He wondered where he was going. He wondered what was at the end. Would it be friend or foe? He would soon find out as he was suddenly thrown out of the vortex and crashed into the dirt! The landing had been hard and rough. The young captain moaned and groaned as he slowly sat up and rubbed the side of his head.

Toushiro: "Ugh... That hurt..."

At first he wasn't aware of it, but he wasn't alone. There were people gathering around the small crater he had made during his crash landing. Only when there was a sufficient number did the young captain finally notice. He looked up and saw a bunch of... Soul Reapers? And they weren't just any Soul Reapers, either. They were from his squad.

Toushiro: "Uh, hey guys. What's going on?"

But instead of greeting him, all of his men just stared at him. Toushiro could see their eyes full of confusion, fear and bewilderment. What was wrong with them?

Toushiro: "Uh... Why are all of you staring at me like that? What, have I got something on me?"

And then... Their captain arrived. Toushiro just stared in surprise. It was him, he was staring at himself! His counterpart was also just as surprised. Our Toushiro lifted his hands up and tried to be as none-threatening as possible.

Toushiro: "Just so we're clear... I'm friend."

Hitsugaya: "Send a message to the other captains explaining this situation."

Squad 10 Soldier: "Yes sir."

While the man left to deliver the message, the other Toushiro just turned back to his counterpart.

Hitsugaya: "You can stand up, we won't hurt you."

Our Toushiro got to his feet and climbed out of the small crater. He stood in front of his counterpart, noticing one tiny difference between them. The other was more focused on something else.

Toushiro: "Uh, so... Yeah..."

Hitsugaya: "How did you get here?"

Toushiro: "That's uh... That's a little hard to explain. Let's just say that Kurotsuchi 'helped' out a little."

Hitsugaya: "Are you alone?"

Toushiro: "Looks like it."

Matsumoto: "Captain... He just might be the help we need."

Hitsugaya: "You might be right, Rangiku."

Toushiro: "I'm sorry, what?"

Hitsugaya: "I'm guessing you're from another universe, right? Is your world in a war right now?"

Toushiro: "The only war going on in my world right now is the one I'm gonna start with MY Kurotsuchi the moment I get back! Otherwise, no. Why?"

Hitsugaya: "Good 'cause we are and we could use some help."

Toushiro: "What are you fighting?"

Suddenly the soldier Hitsugaya had sent returned with a message for him.

Squad 10 Soldier: "Sir. Yamamoto and the others are calling in a meeting and they would like you to bring him along with you."

Hitsugaya: "I figured they would. Alright. Come with me, everything-" Toushiro: "Everything will be explained there. Like that was hard to guess."

With the other Rangiku following, Toushiro followed his counterpart to the Assembly Hall. As expected, Toushiro walked in and was immediately stared at by all of the others. But it wasn't just the 13 Court Guard Squad captains and lieutenants, Ichigo and his friends from the living world as well as Rukia, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and a few other seated officers were there too. Clearly whatever was going on was pretty bad to involve all of them. The only one missing was the Head-Captain himself. While they waited, Toushiro took the moment to get caught up.

Toushiro: "Sooo... Can someone fill me in?"

Hitsugaya: "We've been at war with this group of freakish fighters from the World of The Living for about a whole year now and it hasn't been easy."

Byakuya: "One of the scout teams had a run-in with one of them earlier today and they all got beat up pretty badly."

Toushiro: "How many did they encounter?"

Hitsugaya: "Get this... One! They encountered only one of these people and all 12 men were badly injured! Strangest of all, none of them managed to get in a good hit and it only took one good hit from the enemy to put them in this condition!"

Toushiro couldn't believe what he had just heard! What in the world were the 13 Court Guard Squads up against?! At that moment, Yamamoto appeared and sat down in his seat.

Yamamoto: "I'm sure that all of you have heard the news by now that we have another Captain Hitsugaya among us. From what I've been told, this one is from another universe... A universe where this war is long over. Would the new Hitsugaya please step forth."

Slowly, Toushiro stepped forth to identify himself. All of the captains, lieutenants, and more looked at him with a hint of hope in their eyes.

Toushiro: "Um... Hello, heh. Uh... Just to make things easier on everyone, you can just call me 'Toushiro' instead of 'Captain Hitsugaya'... Since I'm not really from this universe."

Omaeda: "But you both look alike!"

Rangiku: "Well actually, this Hitsugaya is taller than mine!"

Hitsugaya: "Ran..gi..ku!"

Toushiro smiled apologetically. He was indeed at least 1 inch taller than his counterpart. Talk about awkward.

Yamamoto: "How this Hitsugaya came here is a mystery, but it couldn't have been at a better time. We are at war right now... And we could use your help."

Toushiro: "So I've heard. I'll help any way I can, but I'm going to be more focused on getting home though."

Yamamoto: "Understandable. We appreciate your help."

Toushiro: "So what are you up against anyway?"

Soifon: "A ruthless group of warriors!"

Byakuya: "Nearly all of them posses abilities that are far different from our own."

Renji: "And they are all very strong!"

Ikkaku: "But there are these two who make the rest of them look like weaklings! Their strength is unimaginable!"

Rukia: "They can all fly, shoot these weird spheres of light that can destroy anything it touches from their hands, and at least 5 of them can change their hair color in a snap!"

Toushiro's eyes got a little bigger as those words sank in. He gulped. These descriptions were all sounding WAY too familiar!

Kurotsuchi: "Even more fascinating is that some of them aren't even human!"

Zaraki: "Yeah! One of them is green!"

Yachiru: "A big green meany!"

Yumichika: "And there's this big yellow feline that has a temper as sharp as her teeth and claws!"

Toushiro was just getting more and more nervous as the captains, lieutenants, seated officers and Ichigo and his friends talked about the people they were at war with. He did not like the picture that was being painted for him in a sense! So he had to ask.

Toushiro: *Gulp* "Just out of curiosity... Can, um... Can one of them turn into a horse?"

Ichigo: "Not just a horse, but a number of other animals as well. Horse, wolf, lion, dolphin, compy, raptor, spinosaurus and another creature that I've never seen before! Looks like a wolf but it has wings!"

Hitsugaya: "And that is the same guy who nearly killed me the last time we fought! He's by far the most aggressive of them!"

Toushiro rolled his eyes up as he closed them and took in a deep breath. There was only one person who that described and it confirmed the young captain's worst fears! Meanwhile... Vegeta was in a similar situation and was getting the same horrible feeling.

Lieutenant Vegeta: "And you need my help against these people?"

Goku: "Yeah, many of them are strong and can use abilities we've never seen before!"

Piccolo: "Having someone of your strength would give us an edge."

Lieutenant Vegeta: "Well I'm flattered and all but, really, I'm not that strong-"

Vegeta: "You're stronger than both me and Kakarot together! I'd say you're strong enough."

Vegeta did everything he could but he couldn't get himself out of this situation. He wanted to find Toushiro but that wasn't happening anytime soon. Finally the prince had to relent.

Lieutenant Vegeta: "Ok... I'll help... What do they look like?"

Krillin: "They look like humans only they're not!"

Lieutenant Vegeta: "Saiyans?"

Gohan: "No they aren't saiyans."

Vegeta: "And no they are not androids either!"

Lieutenant Vegeta: "Ok, not human, not saiyan, not android... Don't sound dangerous to me."

Tien: "Well they are. All of them are hard to find and nearly all of them wield swords."

Vegeta gulped. Did he hear that right?

Lieutenant Vegeta: "... Swords?..."

Videl: "Each sword is different and has a name. Whenever they say that name with some kind of chant in front of it, the sword either changes shape or obtains a strange power!"

Gohan: "One sword is engulfed in flames when its owner uses it!"

Krillin: "And another becomes pitch black!"

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Vegeta's face as a nervous smile formed across his mouth. Like Toushiro, he too didn't like the picture that was forming in his head.

Vegeta: "Something wrong?"

Lieutenant Vegeta: "Uh... Can one of these swords... Unleash a giant dragon made of ice and water?"

Krillin: "Oooohhhhhh yeah!"

Yamcha: "That thing is hell to avoid!"

Vegeta: "But what amazes me most is that that sword belongs to this little 13 year old brat with white hair and teal/turquoise eyes! He is the biggest pest I have ever fought against! I've tried everything to kill this brat but he is just as resilient as I am! He's even come close to beheading me on several occasions."

Vegeta gulped again. There was only one person who fit that description and it became clear at what was going on in this universe! The 13 Court Guard Squads and the Z-Fighters were at war with each other! By far the worst place that our Vegeta and Toushiro could end up in! But they were in for a REAL shock next.

Toushiro: "You guys... are at war... with the Z-Fighters?"

Komamura: "Sounds like you know of these people."

Toushiro: "Eh, you could say that..."

Hitsugaya: "And of course we still have Aizen to deal with."

Toushiro: "Hold it, you mean... Aizen's still alive here?"

Uryu: "Please tell us that he's been defeated in your world."

Toushiro: "More than defeated..."

Izuru: "He's dead?"

Toushiro: "Very..."

Ikkaku: "Good. Maybe you can do it again."

Toushiro: "Just out of curiosity, why ARE you guys at war with these people?"

Hitsugaya: "One of their own is helping Aizen. He looks similar to the one who can transform into animals but is covered in scars."

Soifon: "He's also a bit of a psychopath."

And that REALLY made Toushiro uneasy.

Toushiro: "Oooohhhh... PLEASE tell me that was a joke..."

Shuhei: "It's not, I'm afraid."

Toushiro felt sick. At the other end of the situation, Vegeta was also in the same state.

Lieutenant Vegeta: "You guys... are at war... with the Soul Reapers?"

Piccolo: "Sounds like you know of these guys."

Lieutenant Vegeta: *If only you knew...* "Yeah I've encountered them once or twice."

Oolong: "And if things weren't bad enough, Coge's been seen a few times lately!"

Lieutenant Vegeta: (To himself) "Why am I surprised?..."

18: "If you liked that then you're gonna LOVE WHY we're at war with these people."

Our Vegeta moaned and closed his eyes for a moment. He had a sickening feeling he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.

Lieutenant Vegeta: "I know I'm gonna regret this... Why?..."

Gohan: "Get this... Three of their comrades are helping Coge!"

And our Vegeta just groaned again. The pieces of the puzzle have all been put together now and the picture was clear as day. The 13 Court Guard Squads and the Z-Fighters were at war with each other because they each thought that the other side was helping their enemies.

Our Vegeta and Toushiro: "Oh when will I learn that things will always get worse if I just wait long enough?..."